238 Responses

To comment #8: I find it humorous and actually quite sad that people feel it appropriate to throw around the “First Amendment” as a policy crutch to suit their needs. Certainly, our beautiful country was founded on the principles of freedom of speech and I do appreciate that fact. But keep in mind that the Bill of Rights is a very much a POLICY. Much like Board of Education policies…hmm. In Guilderland, the policy is and has been for many, many years to not discuss personnel issues in public session. People seem to forget that the practice of “executive session” was not just created for this particular case. It has been a long-standing practice aimed at respecting the private and personally-identifiable employment information of all staff members. Why should this policy be thrown out the window because two teachers disagree with it? do these policies “not count” because a few people don’t like them or because they don’t help a couple of angry teachers advance their personal objectives? With that logic, why not throw out all policies and all rules and just have a great, big free-for-all?

It seems as though something happened.. What happened is not clearly reported.
The school board has the responsibility to create policies and procedures that the school employees follow.
What policy has been broken ? And how ?
What is the punitive or corrective action documented in that policy ?
Who is responsible for enforcing that policy – The superintendent I guess. Are his disciplinary methods appropriate? That is a check for the school board.
This is an ugly situation for the school board. I pray they do the RIGHT thing, what ever that is.

The Teacher’s Union is EVIL EVIL EVIL! Anybody who knows anything about them and denies it, is either in the Union or just drinking some serious kool aid.

This is yet another example of why the teacher’s union needs to be eliminated. Not only do they let lousy and criminal teachers continue to interact with children every day and get a nice paycheck for it, they remove good teachers who refuse to drink the liberal kool aid and dare to question the union.

And these teachers committed both those terrible sins:
One, they are not progressives and refuse to be quiet about it; and two, and probably much worse in the union’s eyes, they dared to criticize the all powerful teacher’s union!

Just reading the terms in the story is scary: “cultural investigation?” Chilling is not a strong enough word for this. Sounds like something straight out of a George Orwell novel. And the tactics these people stoop to, investigating that poor woman while she was on leave, behind her back.

And of course the public has no access to any of the information, gee why is that? Simple- Because the truth is, they just do not like those two teachers’ politics, and they want to get rid of them for it. For that and no other reason. Plain and simple.

The fact that so many students are so angry and outspoken about this almost makes it look worse–it means that these 2 teachers are “cool” and therefore more likely to create the so-called “locker room atmosphere” the administration is claiming. There’s nothing high school students love more than bashing their teachers, especially when another teacher gets in on it! I just think that these 2 were trying to be more like friends to their students than teachers, which is usually a good thing, but there is a difference between making fun of other teachers jokingly/for fun and making jokes actually intended harm to that person’s reputation.

The only thing that doesn’t make sense in this whole thing is why they’re being relocated to the middle school–I understand that’s the only other option besides the high school, but is this “locker room atmosphere” something we want to be imposed on younger, more impressionable students?

Matt Nelligan is one of those rare educators who has the gift of stimulating his students to higher and deeper levels of thought and inquiry; my daughter (a 2007 grad of GHS) and her friends unanimously acclaim him their finest teacher; although they were of all stripes of the political spectrum, they never felt ostracized of scorned or that his views were forced upon them. The way this was handled by the principal and the Board is so Orwellian it boggles the mind: “cultural climate inquiry”! Smacks of 1984 and Stalinism. Nelligan was leading a college-level seminar, and to place him at a middle school level is inappropriate, even if it had been done with proper prior discussion, and appropriate labor-management interaction. What a life lesson for his and other GHS students!

To me, this is a classic case of the inmates (teachers and their supporting students) trying to run the Asylum.

If these are the lessons that these teachers are giving their students:

1. Cry like a baby when a management decision comes down that you don’t like.
2. Sue if you don’t get your way
3. Try to threaten the school board to reverse the decision

Then no wonder we are raising a generation of complaining adults with “I want it now” mentality.

These teachers have no clue what the real world is like.
I wonder how far I would get if I sued my employer when my office gets moved and/or my job responsibilities change.

These teachers need to stop acting like the kids they teach and accept that there is something called authority. They are not losing their jobs, any pay, or any benefits. With people struggling to make ends meet with inflation and the price of gas, it’s stunning that some professionals can be so out of touch with reality.

Apologists Unite ought to be the caption for most of these posts! Anyone want to comment of their due process rights… the mysterious “investigation”… nope, not you apologists. You go ahead and stand behind the weasels who ought to be accountable to the public and choose to hide behind closed doors… which makes you weasel posterior kissers in my book.

To some extent, I think everyone needs to bear in mind that these are high schoolers. They love these teachers and don’t want them to leave. That’s certainly a good reason for them wanting to express their discontent with the administration’s decision.

Specifically, the school board’s policies prohibit discussing a personnel matter that mentions any individual by name. At the meeting last week, they didn’t give anyone the chance to speak in generalities or about the social studies department as a whole. Plenty of students, alumni, parents, and former teachers came prepared to speak along those guidelines. While the board’s frustration is understandable that they had the makings of a mob on their hands, their reaction was inappropriate and only further alienated them from a discontented public.

To all those commenters who feel that these teachers should stop complaining, there are a couple things to bear in mind. (1) While this is technically a “transfer,” the levels of certain types of compensation for middle school teachers is less than that of high school teachers, so substantively this could be considered a pay cut. (Confirmed by FMS & GHS teachers) (2) The move pulls Nelligan from teaching Grade 12 government classes (his master’s is in political science) to MS social studies (i.e. not his specialty). (3) Teachers at the middle school and high school were kept in the dark about the transfers and schedule and classroom changes until minutes before the end of the last day of the year. It was later confirmed by one member of the administration that they had planned this for weeks. While it’s certainly the administration’s priority to do so, that seems to me (and certainly to these teachers) to be wildly disrespectful and unprofessional.

In my opinion, I think the transfers shouldn’t take place because they seem educationally unsound. Nelligan is the only teacher certified at the high school to conduct AP and SUPA government classes, which means that if the transfer is upheld, it’s likely that seniors next year won’t be able to have those designations of college-level coursework on their transcripts. While these teachers (all involved, not simply Nelligan and McManus) are indeed certified 7-12, they all have been engaged in their respective schools for years, developing educational styles tailored to those age groups, and by all accounts in the community, content where they are.

If a “climate of intolerance” does exist (and I believe that the vagueries of the mythical report will be defeated by its release), then attack it using programs like the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) — a group already in existence at Guilderland that holds a number of diversity workshops each year, inviting students and teachers from all backgrounds. Nearly 200 students and teachers attend these over the course of each school year. I had the pleasure of leading one workshop that Nelligan was in attendance, and I can report that he listened and actively engaged in the goal of welcoming diversity and building a *better* school climate.

The second comment is libelous and should be amended or deleted. Ms. Marie Stallings calls them “loser teachers.” Do you know either personally? Have you seen evidence that supports this claim? Ever been in either of their classrooms? Spoken to them no the phone? No, of course not. Matt Nelligan was exonerated by an independent investigation and Ann-Marie McManus has never been accused of doing ANYTHING wrong. How about you think before you write, Ms. Stallings.

I am in agreement that they should be reassigned, and to think, my God we have teachers who are still creating that type of atomsphere. Reassignment is not a punishment, but the teachers should embrace this as an opportunity for growth as a teacher and should want to teach younger students. I attended that high school 30 some yrs ago and I saw that type of atomsphere first hand then. It was the most uncomfortable feeling having to be treated differently by fellow students, and looked down upon by students and teachers because you are of a different lifestyle. Diversity should be taught and cultural diversity to both teachers and students. Look at what happened to Matthew Shepard? I would have thought we would have come much further now in Guilderland, to be still have the same mentality back then, in our current teachers. What a a shame! Shame on you!!In this day and age of Obama, same sex marriages bill passed finally in Cali.. and hopefully one day in NY..it time to do some house cleaning or cleaning out the teachers who still are not with it in terms of teaching young impressionable minds of current and future students their morals and values to our students.

First, expect Matt Nelligan to hire the Alliance Defense Fund. Nelligan sees himself as another Mark Levin, a public education type who yearns for attention on the national stage with talk radio syndication.

Second, the Times Union today reported that the careers of Mr. Nelligan and Ann-Marie McManus are “on the line.”

Incorrect.

Mr. Nelligan and Ms. McManus simply have been assigned to teach another set of students. Mr. Nelligan and Ms. McManus will not lose one cent of compensation, one iota of benefits, one hour of vacation, or one bit of status as tenured teachers. Mr. Nelligan and Ms. McManus do not work in the airline industry, the Detroit automobile industry, on Wall Street, or at your local Starbucks.

Third, Mr. Nelligan, with some assistance from Ms. McManus, clearly sees this as an opportunity to launch his perceived seven- or eight-figure talk radio career. Take a look back at the minutes of the meetings of the Guilderland school board. Do a bit of research. See how many times Mr. McManus’s name appears on the minutes during his 11-year tenure with the district. Not often.

Now, however, one cannot shut Mr. McManus up. Why? He’s got a big audience, a chance to hone his talk radio chops and catch the eye of Clear Channel or some half-baked operation like Albany Broadcasting, which featured the failed nation syndication team of Scott The Zero and Williams The Conquered in California. Expect a deal for a Mr. McManus gab fest shortly.

This writer is no fan of Randi Weingarten or New York State United Teachers. This writer is not a teacher, has never been a teacher, and never wants to be a teacher.

This writer is committed to factual accuracy. Probably a terrorist or at least a communist, right?

As bad as Randi Weingarten and NYUT can often be, a hypocrite like Mr. McManus is even worse. Rather than teach his students about the state Open Meetings Law and state Freedom of Information Law and the applications of both on school board sessions, Mr. McManus has turned his teens into a lynch mob and co-opted an all-too-willing extremist, Conservative, right-wing talk gab base as his public relations hacks. Mr. McManus is using these kids for his own selfish ends. Plain and simple.

That the media does not call Mr. McManus on this is truly troubling. Instead, Albany area residents must battle self-serving advocacy journalists and incompetent soap opera buffoons who have rigid abandoned factual accuracy and tireless basic reporting.

But, hey, if it’s easy and if it sells, why lift a finger? Just keep on giving the masses what they want.

As a current teacher I find Mr. Nelligan’s approach to this issue, reprehensible. He was not fired, and he was not told he was not a good teacher, yet he is willing to sully the name of his school, his district, his department and his superiors, all because he doesn’t want to transfer to a new school. All Mr. Nelligan is doing is proving the human resources report accurate. He is showing now that he is a divisive force who becomes very vocal if someone does not support his views. It has nothing to do with his conservative views and everything to do with his demeanor within a team setting. Great teachers, teach great. Instead of acting selfishly, accept your reassignment and be the great teacher all your students say you are. I hope Mr. Nelligan will take the high road and set a good example for his students.

I for one hope the board does not reverse the decision of the superintendent. That would hurt the credibility of all involved.

Some of you who are interested enough to comment on this subject need to know that Mr. Nelligan is an award-winning teacher who has excelled at teaching college-level, advanced placement courses. He has hundreds of supportive students, liberal and conservative, who love his classes because he is gets them to think, and welcomes and encourages debate. His past students will tell you that as high school juniors and seniors, he prepared them for vigorous college programs. Secondary education has changed a lot in the last decade, and it does not make sense to move a successful, effective teacher like Mr. Nelligan into a middle school.

I have nothing whatsoever to do with the Guilderland school district, nor have I ever met or otherwise encountered either teacher. But get real kids–any teacher who launches himself onto a table and crosses himself and sprouts some of the stuff this gentleman is alledged to have said needs to be seriously looked at, in any context. Get real again–the school district administrators are not acting in a vaccum; obviously there were complaints by other teachers regarding one (certainly) and perhaps both of the teachers being transferred. One teacher (despite what their ego might be telling them) does not make a department; all of the teachers within a department need to be comfortable with their surroundings and the job they are doing in educating their students.
Some of the best teachers my children had were their middle-level teachers; I agree with previous comments that viewing a transfer to the middle school as equal to a demotion is ludicrous.
BTW–has anybody bothered to question why the 3 teachers moving up to the HS (2 of which are apparently “involuntary”) aren’t all distressed and flapping their hands to the media?

What seems to make this a contentious issue is not the fact that the teachers are being transfered – that is certainly within the rights of the employer to do so – but rather the stated and quite public although exceedingly vague reason for the transfer. If it were just a matter of distributing the personnel resources of the district to meet a perceived need at the middle schools, there would likely be little uproar.

The transfer, however, was couched in terms of a disruptive assessment by the “culture survey” and presented as a disciplinary action to remove these two teachers from the high school workplace. That is, quite publicly and quite intentionally, a punitive action by the superintendent. Any offense to middle school teachers, students, or parents starts with that. The teachers clearly had not committed any sort of illegal or unethical actions that could result in dismissal, but the nature of that “survey” is so unclear as to lead to a perception of ideological persecution.

While it might be reasonable policy for the board to not discuss personnel actions or contradict the superintendent, the community at large should be able to expect some transparency regarding just what those “culture surveys” assess should they not?

There is no doubt from what i’ve read and what i’ve seen throughout various local media outlets, thus far, that Nellygan is acting like an 800 lb gorilla – which perhaps is a rather fair indication of a ‘pattern of abusive’ behaviors towards his colleagues or worse yet, towards the students.

If this proves to be the true underlying issue & he’s been exonerated for these behaviors then i’d certinaly like to know who exonerated this individual? What determining facts were used leading to their conclusions? Something happened we know this, but what?

Either way, when all is said and done, a lot of red faces will be the end result and perhaps the loss of a few jobs.

I look forward to reviewing the survey once released!

Let’s place faith in our trusted officials to do right by the tax-payers and residents of Guilderland and ALL school districts everywhere.

As the old saying goes, “peel an onion, there’s lots of layers”. The facts of this situation if ever allowed to actually come out will prove that Mr. Nelligan for all his grandstanding is nothing more than an intimidating bully hiding behind a shroud of conservatism. He stands up and states he is more than just a teacher, and he is right. He’s also a manipulative blowhard trying to use a good offense as his defense. When it all comes out in the wash, and it will, he’ll be lucky if he’s not un-employed. Peel an onion, there’s lots of layers, and the further you go the more rotten this one gets.

It’s too bad we will probably never know ALL the facts of this case, and it seems to me there is CLEARLY more than meets the eye here. Equally as troubling is that the students who are so passionately and personally involved (and for some reason believe they are fighting for these teachers’ jobs) may never know the whole story either.

Too many far left liberals in Guilderland world. Ralph Evers is a scary person when he spews his verbiage from his Air America mouth. You extreme ultra liberals never want anyone to disagree with you. So bow do you respond. You make a personal attack on Mr. McManus Could be a sign of your insecurity Ralphy boy. Facts please about the issue. And try to be more original Ralphy boy! Your Paul Krugman imitation is yesterdays news.

I’d like to hear a little bit more about the specific accusations against Nelligan (that he “was accused of deriding a gay staff member, but was exonerated”) and the circumstances behind this. Did someone just make this stuff up or what? Seems kind of unusual to just throw something out there like this, unless it had some basis in fact. Imagine if he really did do some of the things he was accused of and all these kids are willing to overlook it because he was “cool” to them in class…talk about a “climate” issue. And why is there no mention in the press of fellow teachers (who presumably know more than most outside observers about this issue) showing up at these glorified pep rallies- I mean school board meetings? Have they been as supportive as the 17 and 18 year old students?

It is easy to call educators, “loser teachers”, if the accuser is or was, at one time, a “failing student”. Even if the result was no fault of their own.

Nevertheless, what troubles me most about this situation is that the evaluation was “outsourced/privatized” to a “consultant”. A “consultant” who has not yet been named, in print. Guilderland voters elected the school board members and not the “consultant”. This is the old “political” trick of “delegating responsibility” while giving the appearance of retaining the “authority”. Given them by the voters of Guilderland who elected them.

“Consultant” services can lead to corruption and abuse and result in unnecessary added expense(s) to school budgets and school tax burdens to tax-payers. It is a situation whereby paid school administrators and school board member seek to avoid being held responsible for their decisions by “blaming” the decision on the “consultant”. When matters go awry. As in this case.

Legally, the “consultant” can never be held responsible. No “consultant” would ever sign a “legal” contract which would hold them responsible. If something were to go wrong with the “politics” of the situation. It is this kind of “privatization/outsourcing” which is why New York State, under Governor George Pataki, became and remains a financial wreck.

The “consultant” needs only to produce a report with conclusions and recommendations that the school board wanted, in the 1st place. And then be paid the, often exorbitant, $-amounts agreed to in their “legal” contract.

Future proposed Guilderland School Budgets will, now, have a lot more difficulty in receiving voter approval. If they do pass, it will be by narrower voter margins. This is my guess.

To Mr. Ralph Evers, somewhere in the 4th paragraph of your Letter (#25), you switch names and rant about a Mr. McManus. I am quite sure you were referring to Mr. Nelligan, who is a big boy and can handle your nastiness. In my not so humble opinion, I believe you owe an apology to Mrs. McManus for your slander.

No one addresses the fact this all arose from what was reported to be a “cultural inquiry”. I don’t care what you do, or where you work, but if that doesn’t send a chill up your spine you don’t have one. And if cultural inquiries are dangerous everywhere, how much more so in an educational setting?

On the other hand, the teachers involved could end this secrecy issue simply by waiving their right to the confidentiality of the personnel process. I am sure their union would scream, but the right is theirs as individuals. If it were me I would waive in a heartbeat, then watch the superintendent and the board throw up at the prospect of having to let everyone know what the decision was based upon.

And I am sorry it offends anyone, but it is more prestigous to teach in college than in high school, and in high school more than middle school, etc. Sorry, just is–harder material, higher expectations. And no, I am not a teacher, and yes, I think teaching second grade is very hard, and no, I couldn’t do it.

I graduated from GHS in 2007 and was a student of Mr. Nelligan’s during my senior year in his Public Policy class. What people who don’t know him don’t understand is that he is a passionate and very inspiring person. He pushes his students on a daily basis to think for themselves, and to discover for themselves what they believe, whether they be liberal, conservative or somewhere in between. Mr. Nelligan has not and will not preach his beliefs to his students; he merely gives insight into his own experiences to foster structured debates in class between students.

The issue is NOT that Mr. Nelligan is being transferred. The students fully understand that the distric is in the middle of a transition to improve all of the schools in the district. The issue is the cause of the transfer. Mr. Nelligan is a teacher whose upbeat and active style of teaching, particularly regarding current public policy issues,would be lost on students who are no where near the age to vote. Students would have to receive a “watered down” version of events, and would not be as focused on the issues as high school students. Mr. Nelligan has the ability to push students to be active players in politics and government, particularly regarding voting. It is so sad to hear of the small numbers of young people who vote. ANYONE who has ANY ability to persuade students to watch the news, pay attention to politicians, and vote for what they believe in, needs to be kept around the students who need it most: high school students.

To those of you not part of the Guilderland school district, and who have not attended the board meetings as hundreds of current students, alumni and parents have, please keep in mind that you are not getting the full story. Even if you have seen the news stories on TV, and read this article, you are still getting someone else’s interpretation.

It is quite ironic that so many students, past and present, have attended the board meetings and written letters to school officials voicing their opposition to the policies of the school board and the superintendent. Because of Mr. Nelligan himself, we have the courage and drive to stand up for what we believe in.